Core Clerkship in Gynecology and Obstetrics

This clerkship introduces students to the discipline of Gynecology/Obstetrics and Women’s Health. Following three days of PRECEDE instruction, students rotate through the following:

two weeks of inpatient obstetrics,
two weeks of inpatient gynecology and
two two-week selectives.

The selectives are chosen from the following: female pelvic and reconstructive medicine, gynecologic oncology, maternal fetal medicine, ambulatory women’s health, reproductive, endocrine and infertility, gynecologic pathology, women’s mood disorders, fetal therapy, community obstetrics or reproductive health. In addition there is a precepted longitudinal ambulatory experience. Instruction occurs through direct patient contact, operating room and bedside teaching, and student conferences.

Visiting Medical Students

Medical students from other institutions can participate in our clerkship through the Visiting Medical Students Program.

PRECEDE Overview

students in the women's clerkship

PRECEDE (Pre-Clerkship Education Exercises) sessions are intended to introduce students to fundamental skills and knowledge that they will utilize in the care of patients in the ambulatory and hospital setting. Students spend three days at the start of the clerkship and two days at the midpoint of the clerkship involved in this program.

A few examples of Core Clerkship in Women’s Health PRECEDE sessions include:

Review of breast and pelvic exams in a simulated office visit environment, utilizing specially trained genitourinary teaching associates;
Surgical Scrub and Self Gown/Glove exercise;
Wound closure and knot-tying workshop;
Simulated delivery using Mama Natalie birth simulators;
Ultrasound seminar with live demonstration;
Case-based learning and team-based learning seminars with faculty preceptors;
Interdisciplinary role-playing modules, including faculty and students from other disciplines;
Introduction to bloodless medicine;
Obstetric anesthesia; and
Introduction to minimally invasive surgery for gynecologic conditions.

Learning Goals

To introduce students to the depth and breadth of women’s health issues;
To experience how Gyn/Ob merges surgery, medicine and primary preventive care into a single practice;
To learn how overall mental and physical health interacts with reproductive function;
To gain comfort in taking an appropriate Gyn/Ob history and performing the breast and pelvic examinations;
To introduce the principles of surgery related to women’s health.